This invention is concerned with a mould arrangement of a glassware forming machine operable to shape molten glass in a mould. Such mould arrangements are commonly used in glassware forming machines of the individual section type.
In a glassware forming machine of the individual section type, a number of sections each of which forms a glassware forming unit are arranged side-by-side to receive gobs of molten glass from a gob distributor which supplies gobs to each section in turn. The sections operate to form the gobs into articles of glassware which are fed to a common conveyor. Each section comprises a mould arrangement operable to form gobs of molten glass into parisons and a further mould arrangement operable to form parisons into articles of glassware.
This invention is applicable both to mould arrangements for forming gobs into parisons and to mould arrangements for forming parisons into articles of glassware.
In the mould arrangements of a conventional glassware forming machine of the individual section type, the arrangement comprises a vertically projecting shaft on which two mould portion supporting arms of the mould arrangement are pivotally mounted for movement in opposite directions to open and close moulds formed by mould portions mounted on the mould portion supporting arms. Two vertically-extending drive shafts form part of drive means for causing the mould portion supporting arms to move to open and close the moulds. Each drive shaft is connected by link means to an associated one of the supporting arms so that, when the shaft is turned about its vertical axis, the supporting arm is moved to open or close a mould. Each drive shaft has a splined lower end portion which is received in a complementary recess of a link member which is pivotally mounted on the base plate of the machine. The two link members are connected by further links to a lever of the drive means which is pivotally mounted on the base plate for movement about a vertical axis. This lever is also connected to motor means operable to cause the lever to turn about its vertical axis which in turn causes the link members to pivot and the drive shafts to turn about their vertical axes so that the mould portion supporting arms are moved.
In a conventional mould arrangement as described in the last preceding paragraph, the connecting means, comprising the link members which connect the drive shafts to the lever connected to the motor means, is bulky and heavy and a substantial area is required in which to allow the link members to pivot around their pivot points to cause movement of the drive shafts.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a mould arrangement of a glassware forming machine in which the connecting means is lighter, less bulky and requires less space in which to operate.